Past Summits

2018 New Jersey CIO Executive Leadership Summit

May 02, 2018, 7 AM-5:30 PM

Hanover Marriott Hotel, Whippany, NJ

Event Highlights

Lead, Reimagine, Reinvent – Driving a Culture of Genius for Success

In today’s fast-changing business landscape, it’s not your competitors that threaten your company’s survival. It’s your organization’s willingness and capacity to disrupt its existing business model or be disrupted. Because the CIO is at the center of the digital transformation journey she or he is uniquely positioned to deliver fearless leadership, fuse emerging technologies with process redesign and people skills, partner with the C-suite and board of directors, and successfully navigate the business into the future.

The courageous leadership traits needed to foster a culture of innovation and transformation on the path to genius will be the focal point of the 2018 New Jersey CIO Executive Leadership Summit.

Chris Colla is the current Vice President and CIO of B&G Foods, Inc. He is an active member of the Society of Information Management’s New Jersey Chapter. Chris is a respected technology & process management executive with 20 years leading organizational change and operational excellence through innovative technology solutions.

He has a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from the University of Mount Union in Alliance, OH and a Master of Science in Information Management from the Howe School of Business at Stevens Institute of technology. he also has graduate certifications in project management and business process management (bpm) also from Stevens Institute.

He has held Information Technology leadership positions at Accenture, Diageo, Sharp Electronics, and Haier America before B&G Foods. He has true international experience from living and working for two years in Tokyo, Japan as a member of a global supply chain initiative for the Sony Corporation while at Accenture.

Lookman Fazal is an Executive IT Leader and the Global head of Technology and Security for Argo Turboserve Corporation. In his current role, Lookman manages multimillion dollar budget, a global staff across 3 continents and 28 locations around the world.

His primary objective is to set the technology & security blueprint and roadmap to position ATC for future growth across the 5 distinct business divisions. Mr Fazal has reestablished business and IT partnership by strategically aligning IT organization to business objectives. This was done by building transparency, trust, selling IT services and by showing the technology benefits to the business.

Mr Fazal is a dynamic leader recognized by peers as an excellent coach, team player and mentor with over 20 years of experience in Information Technology. He has managed many large-scale projects and planned strategic IT direction from a business perspective as well as technical perspective. He possesses a proving ability to gain cooperation, build consensus and improve performance among diverse groups and has directed reengineering processes to reduce costs and increase efficiency. He has consistently been recognized and promoted to positions of increased responsibility

Prior to joining ATC, Lookman Fazal has worked with several fortune 500 companies in various leadership roles at EmblemHealth, Avaya, Lucent and Novartis. His last role was leading an IT Technology group reporting to the CIO where he managed a team of 70 people and a budget of $20 million. He has a Masters in Management from Stevens Institute of Technology and has 10 certifications and 5 patents.

Mr. Fisher has over 30 years of IT experience including application development, training, and cybersecurity consulting, and brings the following credentials to the table:

BS, Computer Science

MS, Computer Science

Masters of Business Administration (MBA)

ISACA Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA)

EC-Council Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH)

SANS/GIAC Certified Web-Application Penetration Tester (GWAPT)

To combine his passion for cyber-security with his extensive experience in application development, Mr. Fisher formed Affinity IT Security Services to offer the following services:

Cyber-security Vulnerability Assessments and Penetration Testing

Application and website Security Testing

Information Security Policies and Procedures

Information Security Governance

A hands-on practitioner, he is equally comfortable dealing with technical project teams and C-level executives.

A dynamic and engaging speaker, in addition to his role as an consultant He has spoken on Cyber-security at SIMPosium, QCon, OWASP, JavaSIG, NJMMA, Chamber of Commerce, and Regional IIB meetings.

Mr. Fisher is an enthusiastic member of OWASP and serves on the Executive Council of the NJ Chapter of the Society of Information Management (SIM) as President. He is an active member in the New Jersey Chapter of the Society for Information Management (SIM) and serves on its Executive Council. He participates as a member of the Underwriter’s Laboratories Standards Technical Panel (STP) developing cyber-security standards for interconnected devices, healthcare devices, and industrial control systems.

Hugo Fueglein is a Managing Director in Diversified Search’s New York City office. He is a leader in the CIO & IT Management Practice in the United States and is a core member of the Global CIO Practice for Diversified Search. Mr. Fueglein is also a leading member of the Global Technology Practice at Diversified Search. He has placed technology executives in key positions across all industries. Hugo’s specialization is in the placement of Chief Information Officers, Chief Technology Officers, and technology executives in IT Architecture, IT Infrastructure, Application Development, and IT Operations.

Prior to joining Diversified Search, Mr. Fueglein was an Executive Vice President with DHR International and formerly an integral member of the CIO and IT Practice at CTPartners. He served clients across industries, recruiting talent to fill critical roles in corporate technology functions. Hugo has completed assignments for CIOs and key leadership positions in technology for a broad scope of clients that continuously utilize technology as a strategic initiative. Industry sectors served include technology, consumer goods, retail, energy, financial services, health care, pharmaceutical, manufacturing, and industrial.

Hugo’s search career also includes being a Principal with both Korn/Ferry International and Morgan Samuels. During his seven year tenure with Korn/Ferry, he was instrumental in the creation of the CIO Center of Expertise. Earlier in his career, Hugo was an economist with Chase Econometrics and The WEFA Group (Wharton Economic Forecasting Associates). While serving as an economist with The WEFA Group (Wharton Economic Forecasting Associates), Hugo refined his strategic process management and developed superior communication abilities in working with a diverse clientele.

Maria Guida has been an executive speaking coach and professional speaker for over twenty years. Her clients include IT professionals at IBM, Cablevision, McKinsey & Co., JPMorgan Chase, Moody’s, Morgan Stanley, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and the NY Software Industry Association.

In her earliest career, she was an actress on Broadway, TV, and film, working with Paul Newman, James Earl Jones, and Kevin Kline.

She is also a professional runner: she runs her own business! She is an enthusiastic swimmer, billiards player, and birdwatcher.

Abhay is the founder and CEO of CustomerInsights.AI, a Scottsdale start-up focused on helping Life Sciences companies leverage Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence for their Sales and Marketing decisions.

Abhay has more than 25 years of leadership experience in Sales and Marketing consulting for Life Sciences companies. He has deep expertise in leveraging latest technology for addressing business issues. He is the Principal Shareholder and Member of the Board of Solugenix Corporation – a 40 year old technology and outsourcing consulting company – where he is responsible for incubating new product ideas from concept to commercialization. He invests and advises Phoenix area technology startups and has also launched successful ventures as an intrapreneur within large organizations.

Abhay has received his M.B.A. (Economics, Finance) from University of Chicago, M.S.(Computer Science) from Northwestern University, and B.Tech (Electronics Engineering) from Indian Institute of Technology, Varanasi, India.

Justin Lahullier joined Delta Dental of New Jersey in early 2000, has held several key positions in areas including Compliance, Product Development, Strategic Planning, and Informatics. He was previously Assistant Vice President of Strategic Decision Support and Data Services where his focus was on driving value using analytics, data visualization, and storytelling. He was promoted to Chief Information Officer and Vice President of Information Services in April of 2017.

Justin’s current focus is on driving value from all areas of IT to the business and external partners with a focus on optimizing IT delivery and support. Key successes include partnering with the business to deliver outcomes aligned with corporate strategy while providing leadership and governance to critical strategic and technical initiatives. Current initiatives include Hi-Trust compliance, improving customer experience and leveraging data and analytics with a focus on driving efficiencies, reducing risk and enabling the business. Justin also has launched the company’s first IT focused 18-month professional development program dubbed “CIO University.”

The mission of Delta Dental of NJ/CT’s IT department is to delivers value by providing innovative, cost-effective technology, security and analytic services that are strategically aligned with business goals and objectives, while delivering excellence in customer service. The IT Motto at Delta Dental of NJ/CT is “Be The Business”

Outside Delta Justin is a 23-year veteran and past Chief of the East Rutherford Fire Department. A former Chief of the East Rutherford Fire Department, Lahullier also serves as a appointee by the Bergen County Freeholders to a seat on the Public Safety and Communications Advisory Board.

Lahullier holds a master’s in Health Care Administration from Monmouth University and a Post Graduate Certificate from Drexel University in Epidemiology and Biostatistics.

Sean Patrick Lennon, a visionary leader who drives transformation of global, multi-billion dollar organizations from the inside out, has pushed Allergan to become the fastest-growing, most dynamic pharmaceutical company in global healthcare. In his role with Allergan IT, Sean has successfully directed integration and divestiture activities for 40+ acquisitions and divestitures since 2010. His know-how enabled the business to rapidly scale, setting the stage for Allergan’s record growth. With Sean’s unparalleled expertise in highly-efficient integration, Allergan IT has captured over $300 million in cost savings by realizing synergies and strategically restructuring during the mergers and acquisitions process. With an eye on aligning the company’s IT strategy and business strategy, Sean spearheads all aspects of technology vision, product development, and digital delivery of customer-oriented technology services, guiding more than 20,000 Allergan associates around the world.

Prior to joining Watson Pharmaceuticals, now Allergan, Sean served as Vice President of Global Infrastructure Services at Novartis Pharmaceuticals, one of the largest healthcare companies globally. At Novartis, he consolidated client services to their highest satisfaction ratings and reduced budget by $100 million. In 2002, Sean was recruited by pharmaceutical services company C3i to fix its struggling business, a turnaround that he resourcefully executed in less than 60 days as Senior Vice President and General Manager. Sean found his start in the industry with Schering Plough Pharmaceuticals. In 1996, he characteristically rolled up his sleeves to convert Schering Plough’s Managed Care and Health Management group from an entity not delivering value, to a top team in the business with the highest IT satisfaction. Sean initially proved his worth to the company as a consultant in 1994, when he designed and developed the first Third-Party Data Warehouse system in the industry, enabling Schering Plough to deploy its field sales organizations up to 10 days faster than the competition and at a reduced cost.

Sean is in the highest echelon of experience for managing large technical organizations and leading the development and implementation of business-driven digital IT programs. He also has extensive operational and financial experience, overseeing all IT Financial Planning and Analysis, leading IT business plan development, financial forecasting, financial analysis, and capital commitment planning, as well as competitive analysis and benchmarking. Sean possesses strong communication acumen, skilled at delivering technology-oriented messages to nontechnology-oriented people. He has succeeded in breaking down the walls between IT and other business units positioning IT as a key strategic partner. Sean is consistently recognized as a top performer in both measurable results and organization-shaping behaviors. He is very organized and results-oriented with strong process management abilities; he also possesses the insight required to build and focus the high energy of creative teams. Extremely customer-focused, Sean has extensive experience working internationally, having traveled to and done business in more than 50 countries worldwide. He sits on several advisory committees and has received numerous industry honors and recognitions for leadership in delivering innovative technology solutions. Sean was named 2015 “CIO of the Year” by NJ Tech Council.

Sean has 33 years of technical and IT management experience, including 22 years specific to Life Sciences. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science and Business Management from St. John’s University in New York.

Beverly Lieberman is President of Halbrecht Lieberman Associates, a leading, retained executive search firm, specializing in recruiting CIOs and CTOs.

Ms. Lieberman joined Halbrecht Associates in 1986 and became the owner in 1991. She has successfully managed searches for Fortune 500 companies as well as early-stage businesses. Industries served include healthcare, insurance, higher education, financial services, retail, manufacturing, government, management consulting, high technology, law and communications.

In addition to executive search, Ms. Lieberman has established an executive coaching practice. She coaches senior executives in the areas of performance improvement and career development.

Ms. Lieberman has a B.A. and M.A. from the University of Michigan and graduated from the prestigious M.I.T Sloan School Executive Management Program.

Prior to joining Halbrecht Associates, Ms. Lieberman was a Human Resource executive with a Fortune 500 multinational conglomerate and a leading New England bank, where she managed major recruitment efforts for professional and senior level technical staff.

Ms. Lieberman is a frequent speaker at professional societies and conferences and is often quoted in major business and trade publications. She has been a featured writer for CIO Magazine. Ms. Lieberman is a long-standing member of the Society for Information Management (SIM) and currently serves on the Board of Directors. In addition, Ms. Lieberman is a Board member of the University of Bridgeport’s Industry Advisory Board. Ms. Lieberman was selected by Executive Recruiter News as one of the 50 leading retained search professionals. She is also recognized by John Sibbald’s The Career Makers, as one of the nation’s top recruiters

Gary has 30 years international experience in the IT industry. In his most recent role he was the Chief Information Officer for SunGard Availability Services, a trusted partner in IT availability and business continuity services. Gary joined in March 2012, and has been focused on a consolidation and standardization strategy, while maintaining tactical progress in a challenging and rapidly shifting technological and economic climate. Prior to SunGard Availability Services, Gary was the CIO at Taconic Farms Inc., a leading provider of life sciences solutions to drug discovery researchers worldwide. In less than 3 years, Gary transformed the IT function, and the business processes, from diverse local activity, to world class global operations and management. Before that Gary was CIO at Markem Corporation, a trusted world manufacturer of product identification and traceability solutions, offering a full line of print and apply labeling and RFID-based systems, where in addition to his transformational role implementing a single global Enterprise solution, Gary also pioneered work around global “track and trace” using RFID and web service technologies. Gary has held numerous previous international roles, both in consultancy and end user capacity, serving multiple industry vertical segments, from electronics to capital equipment manufacture. During his career, Gary has been an active participant in industry “Thought Leadership” circles and served on multiple Oracle advisory boards, and spoken in public at industry events, on topics including IT Strategy & Operational Excellence, Globalization and the effect on IT, Cloud, and has a case study published by IDC.

John McCaffrey founded Cirrostratus Technologies in 2010, providing broad technology consulting services to municipal governments and educational institutions. He is a noted speaker on the spectrum of topics in the IT arena, engaged by public sector entities as well as firms seeking to provide services and products to the sector. He brings over 35 years of breadth and depth of tech knowledge in assessment , planning, financing, procurement and project management to all clients. He has been widely recognized for his expertise in the public sector information technology and finance, most recently being named as a lead government innovator as one of Government Technology Magazine’s Top 25 Doers, Dreamers and Drivers. Mr. McCaffrey was also recently recognized in for Excellence in Cybersecurity in Government at the Smart Cyber Government Symposium.

Mr. McCaffrey joined the Department of Information Technology (DoIT) in Westchester County, New York in 2011 as Deputy CIO and in 2012, he was appointed as CIO. He served as the county’s Records Management Officer and exofficio board member of the Westchester County Historical Society. As CIO, he was the lead administrator on business process revolution as well as enterprise digital transformation. Focus areas included governance, budgeting/cost control, tech development and security among, others. Some of the major projects that McCaffrey initiated included comprehensive security implementations and controls, broad compliance management, consolidation, shared services, 9-1-1 public safety agency coordination and public safety radio systems enhancement.

Mr. McCaffrey has brought distinction to Westchester as a Top 10 Digital County each year from 2013-2017, most recently in the number one slot. CIO Magazine recognized Westchester DoIT in 2016 as a CIO 100 award winner.

From 2005—2012, Mr. McCaffrey was CIO for Orange County, New York. He was recognized for revitalization of IT, improved service, and cost reductions through staff training and technology programs. Mr. McCaffrey was also responsible for the creation of Orange County’s security policies and business continuity infrastructure and plan. He was on Team Orange employee management training committee and Orange County’s business retention committee and served as advisor to the Orange County Business Accelerator.

From 1999—2005, Mr. McCaffrey was the first director of MIS for the Village of Skokie, Illinois, hired to create and manage the new MIS department. Prior to that, he served seven years as Deputy Commissioner of Finance in North Hempstead, New York, culminating an 18-year career there in prior positions of system development and technical management.

Mr. McCaffrey possesses a Masters of Business Administration degree with a focus on IT as well as a degree as Masters in Network and Communication Management. He also earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Finance and has 3 Masters Certifications in Electronic Commerce, Information Systems Security, and Wireless Networking. He serves as an advisory board member to a number of IT firms and organizations and is also on the governing body or advisory boards for various CIO and CISO summits.

Hunter Muller is a transformative CEO at HMG Strategy, LLC, the strongest executive leadership network. Drawing on more than 25 years of experience in consulting with IT executive leaders, Hunter is a multi-title book author and a frequent industry speaker on transformational leadership and innovation. His concepts are used worldwide to improve executive performance, enhance collaboration, elevate the role of IT, and align strategy across the enterprise.

Through years of research and experience, Hunter has published four books: “The Transformational CIO” (John Wiley & Sons, 2011), “On Top of The Cloud” (John Wiley & Sons, 2012), “Leading the Epic Revolution” (John Wiley & Sons, 2013), and “The Big Shift in IT Leadership” (John Wiley & Sons, 2015).

HMG Strategy assists C-level executives in becoming transformational leaders. HMG Strategy hosts networking summits and provides services that are focused around innovative IT leadership, management, and technology support to CIOs and senior IT executives. HMG Strategy is "The Strongest Executive Leadership Network" with an international association of more than 300,000 global CIOs/senior IT executives, industry experts, and world-class thought leaders.

Hunter and HMG Strategy support a variety of IT-related charities, and Hunter is a member of the Executive Committee of the Fairfield/Westchester Chapter of the Society for Information Management.

Vipul Nagrath has joined ADP as Global Chief Information Officer (CIO). Vipul has responsibility for all of ADP’s infrastructure, operations, enterprise applications, enterprise technology systems and processes across the globe.

Vipul and his team work closely with our senior business leaders to execute ADP’s business strategy and identify, prioritize and execute technology solutions that are cost effective, efficient and scalable globally. The focus of Vipul’s organization is to work collaboratively across the organization to ensure that we build strategic capabilities that support an excellent service experience for our clients and associates.

An industry leader in technology, Vipul brings more than 25 years of experience in developing forward-thinking solutions. Vipul joins us from Bloomberg L.P., where he started as a project manager in 2003 and rapidly rose through the IT organization to become Bloomberg, L.P.’s Global Head of Research & Development. He continued his growth and responsibility as CIO of Bloomberg’s $900MM Enterprise Solutions Group business, where he had full oversight of all operational and technology needs for the enterprise business globally. In his prior role as the global head of R&D, Vipul oversaw technology research & development for Fixed Income, Foreign Exchange, Equity, Trading Solutions, Commodities, Options, Derivatives, Data, Portfolio Analytics, Internal Systems, Web Products, Software Infrastructure and News.

Vipul started his career as a developer with Granada Systems Design, Inc., then moved on to run his own boutique firm specializing in computer telephony integration from 1995 to 2003. Vipul earned a bachelors and master’s degree in computer science from Pace University.

Al Omari has been the Chief Information Officer and Vice President of DCH Auto Group, an automotive retail company with $2.5 billion in revenue, Mr. Omari led a number of key initiatives, including the digital transformation of customer experience using mobile devices, and innovative business analytics and dashboards. He reported to the President and served as member of its Dealership Operations Board. Prior to that, Al served as Director of Technology and ERP Consulting at Dixon Hughes Goodman, where he founded a startup providing clients with visualizations and dashboards, which reached $1 million in revenue within 12 months.

Al is an active member of the board and the treasurer of the New Jersey chapter of the Society for Information Management (NJSIM.org) and servers on the board of the NJ SIM charity foundation, and a guest speaker at CIO events.

Al has over 20 years of experience in delivering business solutions to large organizations. His experience covers areas such as customer and operational data analytics, warehousing, visualizations and dashboards, acquisitions, ERP and CRM systems, cloud computing, and a wide array of innovative mobile technology solutions. After earning his MBA from University of North Texas, Al started his career with KPMG as consulting manager.

Georgia Papathomas is Vice President and Chief Information Officer J&J Pharmaceuticals. She is a member of the J&J Pharmaceuticals Group Operating Committee (GOC) and Chief Information Officer for the Group of J&J Pharmaceutical Companies. In this position, Georgia’s goals include driving innovation in IT and creating competitive advantage for the business through the use of technology, following changes in information flow across the Healthcare Industry, influencing changes in Health IT, and building a strong and engaged global IT team.

Prior to joining J&J, Georgia held the position of Senior Vice President-Chief Information Office and Corporate Innovation Officer at Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceutical in Ridgefield, Connecticut. She was a member of the BI-Pharmaceuticals Executive Leadership Team.

Georgia has worked with Pfizer as the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) for EMEA and as Vice President-Global Customer Service Management; Lucent Technologies as Vice President-Global Professional Services/Network Solutions; and started her career in research at AT&T Bell Labs.

Georgia received her Ph.D. Engineering Science; her M.S. Engineering Mechanics, Sloan Fellowship; and B.S. Civil Engineering all from Columbia University in New York.

Among her many affiliations, she is on the Board of the National Center for Women in Information, a Member of the Board of Advisors for Columbia University, and on the Board of the Madison YMCA. Georgia is also a member of the North American Research Board, the New York Academy of Science, the Sigma Xi Research Honor Society, The Pharmaceutical Information Systems Associations, and the Executive Women’s technology Forum SWIFT.

Mark Polansky is a Senior Partner in Korn Ferry’s Information Technology Officers Center of Expertise, an executive search practice he headed up for more than twelve years. He has been based in the firm’s New York office since joining Korn Ferry in 1997.

Before entering the search field, Mark developed and marketed information systems within the Financial Services and Higher Education sectors. He currently serves on the Advisory Committee for Columbia University's executive graduate program in Information Technology Management.

Mark frequently addresses conferences and writes on information technology and career management topics. He is the creator of the “Executive Career Counsel” column in CIO Magazine and on CIO.com. He is a member of the Society for Information Management (SIM) and has served as President of the New York Chapter. He sits on the Advisory Boards of The Information Technology Senior Management Forum (ITSMF), the national organization dedicated to fostering executive talent among African-American IT professionals, and HITEC, the Hispanic Information Technology Executive Council.

Mark holds a master’s degree in Computer Science from Pratt Institute and a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Electrical Engineering from Union College.

Dan Roberts joined Ouellette & Associates Consulting, Inc. (O&A) in 1986, was named President of the firm in 1995, and in December 1999, he acquired the company.
He meets and strategizes with IT and business executives and their leadership teams across North America on issues relating to IT transformation and culture change, building the IT workforce of the 21st century, and marketing IT's value.

Dan is a contributing author of O&A's book titled Unleashing the Power of IT (Wiley, 2011). He has published numerous articles in industry journals and contributed to O&A's books titled, Leading IT Transformation, IT At Your Service, IT Internal Consulting, and How to Market the IT Department Internally.

Dan is a frequent speaker at IT industry and corporate events, including the CIO Forum & Executive IT Summit Series, national SIMposium, NERCOMP, and the Sports & Entertainment Alliance in Technology (SEAT).

Dan believes that there has never been a better time to be in the IT profession and that those IT professionals who reinvent themselves will thrive in this new environment. This will necessitate the development of a new mindset and skill set that ensures they are positioned as the consultative, client focused, marketing-savvy, and provider of choice.

As the leading provider of IT leadership and professional development services focusing on the "human side of technology," Dan is proud of O&A's long term partnerships with world class, Fortune 1000 clients across all industries including aerospace, financial services/insurance, healthcare, pharmaceutical, retail, utilities, as well as many governments and universities.

A graduate of the Whittemore School of Business and Economics at the University of New Hampshire, Dan and his wife Denise have two grown children, and reside near O&A's Bedford, NH headquarters.

Michael Salas serves as chief information officer for SUEZ in North America, a subsidiary of SUEZ. In this position, he is responsible for all aspects of the company’s IT strategy, governance, project delivery, systems development, infrastructure and service delivery. Michael has over 15 years of experience and a proven ability to lead major technology-based business transformation programs and consistently drives for best practice and superior customer service. Michael first joined the SUEZ group as chief information officer for Australia, in which he successfully managed the technology strategy, project delivery and service delivery of both the waste and water businesses in Australia and New Zealand. Prior to joining SUEZ, he worked for some of Australia’s most prominent companies in various roles related to technology planning and strategy, client management, and operations and service management. He has also worked abroad leading technology teams delivering projects for clients in Hong Kong, Germany, the Netherlands and Puerto Rico.

Mark Sander has over 25 years of industry experience in the Pharmaceutical and Consumer Products industries. With a proven record of leading business transformation through the use of technology, he is a CIO, board member and digital strategist who builds bridges between IT and the business, transforms IT organizations to align with business operations and uses digital transformation to drive top and bottom line growth.

He has held senior leadership roles at several major pharmaceutical companies (Pfizer, Merck/Schering-Plough) as well as two start-ups, most recently leading Information Technology for Global Quality Operations at Teva Pharmaceuticals, servicing 35,000 users across 130 locations globally. Prior to joining Teva, Mark served as the VP and Global CIO for Church & Dwight, the $3.5B Consumer Products company.

Mark earned his B.S. double major in Applied Mathematics (Operations Research and Management Science) and Industrial Management (Tepper) from Carnegie Mellon University. Additionally, he earned an M.B.A. (International Business and Finance) from the Stern School of Business at New York University.

An active member of the New Jersey chapter of the Society for Information Management (SIM), Mark has previously served multiple terms on the Executive Committee (Vice President of Administration & Vice President Communications), been active in the mentoring program, and co-founded the North Jersey CIO Roundtable. Mark has also held a seat on the Board of Advisors for TenFour, an IT Infrastructure Services company, since 2016.

Chris Sikora has been developing technology solutions over fiber optic networks for more than 25 years. He was schooled in the metro optical business at MFS Telecom and as a General Manager for TW Telecom. For the last twelve years he’s led sales and marketing teams focused on solving customers’ global connectivity and security needs at CenturyLink (formerly Level 3 Communications). He’s a graduate of King’s College and holds an MBA from New York University. He makes his home in Manhattan and is the ever-worried father of a college student daughter.

I have 20 years of experience in leadership, innovation strategies, technology implementation & business development while my formal education is a blend of science, technology and business. My journey in the Information Technology (IT) profession started in 1997 and over the past 20+ years I have worked on nearly all aspects of IT. I got underway with networking/cabling installs; tech support to programming in C++, C#, Java; web development; system/network security/administration to my most recent positions of leading teams of amazing people providing technology solutions and services while supporting a multitude of organizational needs.

Fifteen years ago, the Harvard Business Review published what became a highly-controversial article by Nicholas Carr entitled ‘IT Doesn’t Matter’. To help set the stage for the day’s discussions, HMG Strategy President and CEO Hunter Muller will explore why IT is more relevant than ever along with other critical trends that are shaping the future path for technology executives.

Allergan has become the fastest-growing, most dynamic pharmaceutical company in global healthcare. Allergan IT has captured over $300 million in cost savings by realizing synergies and strategically restructuring during the mergers and acquisitions process. With an eye on aligning the company’s IT strategy and business strategy, Sean spearheads all aspects of technology vision, product development, and digital delivery of customer-oriented technology services, guiding more than 20,000 Allergan associates around the world.

The meaning of “work” and how it gets done is changing. Please join Vipul Nagrath, Global CIO of ADP, as he discusses the future of “work” and how “tailored technology” is enabling mass personalization. No two businesses are alike. Just as every individual is characterized by unique DNA, so are companies driven by their unique set of geographic, demographic and functional differences. Learn from the original human capital management disruptor on how industry-leading enterprise platforms will be flexible, extensible and interoperable to satisfy the dynamic needs of the future workforce.

In the new digital era, successful companies aren’t working harder – they’re working smarter. Intelligent enterprises are harnessing new technologies that include Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data analytics to identify and act on new business opportunities, automate key facets of their operations, and boost organizational productivity. This panel of executives will discuss real-world applications of advanced technologies that are driving speed to market and a competitive edge.

In today’s fast-changing business environment, CEOs expect CIOs and technology executives to serve as trusted business advisors who can help the C-suite to identify and execute on new business models that will enable the company to succeed in this age of disruption. This requires a new way of thinking to identify new market opportunities and how cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, cloud, blockchain, analytics, and edge computing can be harnessed to drive innovation. This panel of technology executives will discuss their roles in leading digital transformation strategies along with how they can work with fellow members of the C-suite to move the business forward.

Today’s technology executive plays a pivotal role in helping his or her organization respond to the forces of change needed to become a digital enterprise, no matter what industry they are in. What are the top skills and traits necessary to lead a successful digital transformation, develop collaboration with the C-suite and board, and to achieve the future vision? This panel of top technology search executives will share valuable advice on what key attributes and strategies, beyond leadership, are making some technology executives more successful than others.

This program improves impact, credibility and gravitas. Participants learn how to build trust, speak clearly and concisely, and focus the message on what your listeners care about most. Take away strategies to (1) increase listener engagement with vocal/physical command and (2) articulate the benefits and opportunities that stakeholders need to hear. Learn how to focus your mind for a strategic delivery of your business message, to boost your power to influence.

2:10 PM - 2:40 PM

Coffee Break, Networking and Meet Our Partners

2:40 PM - 3:40 PM

EXECUTIVE ROUNDTABLE WORKGROUPS: Exploring the Five Most Impactful Technologies of 2018

These moderated executive roundtable discussions allow attendees to brainstorm on the top opportunities for applying specific technologies along with the challenges that must be overcome to succeed.

The most successful CIOs are seizing the opportunity to become the CEO of Technology. They are developing analytical models to create validated outcomes that can be used to map strategies, transformation, and increased revenue. This executive panel will share experiences of how courageous leadership can create value and generate new waves of business growth in the modern enterprise while striking a balance between the current and future states.

4:30 PM - 5:30 PM

Raffle Prizes and Executive Networking Reception

Platinum Partners

CenturyLink (NYSE: CTL) is a global communications, hosting, cloud and IT services company enabling millions of customers to transform their businesses and their lives through innovative technology solutions. CenturyLink offers network and data systems management, Big Data analytics and IT consulting, and operates more than 55 data centers in North America, Europe and Asia. The company provides broadband, voice, video, data and managed services over a robust 250,000-route-mile U.S. fiber network and a 300,000-route-mile international transport network.

Gold Partners

Acuative specializes in understanding your business goals and how to use technology to achieve them. As a global provider of IT solutions since 1984, we have the expertise and resources to deliver transformative lifecycle support you can count on – consulting, project management, design, engineering, hardware/software/broadband procurement, implementation, 24/7 monitoring and NOC services, and on-site maintenance. Our portfolio of managed services includes SD-WAN, Virtual Network Services, Infrastructure, Unified Communications, Wireless WANs and LANs, and more. No need to tackle your IT challenges alone, Acuative is your single source with the power and energy to help you accelerate.

Ivanti unifies IT and Security Operations to better manage and secure the digital workplace. From PCs to mobile devices, VDI and the data center, we discover IT assets on-premises and in the cloud, improve IT service delivery, and reduce risk with insights and automation. We also help you leverage modern technology in the warehouse and across the supply chain to improve delivery without modifying backend systems. Ivanti is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, and has offices all over the world. For more information, visit www.ivanti.com and follow us at @GoIvanti.

Pure Storage helps customers build a better world with data. The Pure Storage Data Platform, powered by all-flash storage, offers a simpler, more effective, and more flexible solution for cloud infrastructure and data-rich applications like artificial intelligence, machine learning and big data analytics. With Satmetrix-certified NPS performance in the top 1% of B2B companies, Pure has an ever-expanding range of customers who are some of the happiest in the world.

Breakfast Partners

Macrosoft Inc, a leading-edge software design and development organization, headquartered in Parsippany, New Jersey, has maintained Microsoft Gold Partner status for twelve consecutive years, with proven competencies. This year, Macrosoft celebrates 25 years of successful engagements and a growing list of over 300 professionals working for more than 50 exceptional clients. Macrosoft works with client across all industries supporting all technology requirements.

Strategic Partners

Egon Zehnder was founded in 1964 with a distinctive vision and structure aimed at achieving two basic goals - to place our clients' interests first and to lead our profession in creating value for our clients through the assessment and recruitment of top-level management resources.
The most fundamental expression of our client-first vision resides in our structure, which is unique to our profession. Our 390 consultants, operating from 63 wholly owned offices in 37 countries, are organized around a single-profit center partnership. This is designed to eliminate competitive barriers between our offices. It allows us to operate seamlessly when engagements call for us to mobilize across many offices in a country or a region.
Large or small, local or global, our clients benefit from our structure by having access to our most relevant resources and relationships wherever they may reside.
Underpinning this unique structure is our private ownership. We have chosen to operate our firm independent of any outside interests and are motivated solely by a desire to exceed our clients' expectations.

Heidrick & Struggles actively solves business problems for our clients every day. Through our Leadership Advisory framework, we help companies attract, develop and retain the world’s most talented individuals. For almost 60 years, we have focused on quality service and built strong leadership teams through our relationships with clients and individuals worldwide. Today, Heidrick & Struggles leadership experts operate from principal business centers in North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific.

At Korn Ferry, we design, build, attract and ignite talent. Since our inception, clients have trusted us to help recruit world-class leadership. Today, we are a single source for leadership and talent consulting services to empower businesses and leaders to reach their goals. Through our vision, research and tools across 80 offices and 3,700 employees, we convert potential into greatness. Our solutions range from executive recruitment and leadership development programs, to enterprise learning, succession planning, and recruitment process outsourcing (RPO). Organizations around the world trust Korn Ferry to manage their talent – a responsibility we meet every day with passion, expertise, integrity and results.

Russell Reynolds Associates is a premier provider of senior-level executive search and assessment, serving clients globally for 40 years. We advise our clients on recruiting and retaining outstanding and impactful leaders, and help them mitigate the risks associated with senior level appointments.
We are a private firm with 39 offices across North and South America, Europe and Asia/Pacific, covering all major business regions including Africa, Eastern Europe and Russia, the Middle East and the South Pacific.
We leverage our collective expertise to identify and assess leaders who can support the growth and success of our client organizations.
Our 300 experienced consultants are supported by a global research network
We complete more than 2,000 assignments annually, across a broad range of industries and functional roles.

Founded in 1956 and privately owned, Spencer Stuart is one of the world's leading executive search consulting firms.
We are the advisor of choice among top companies seeking guidance and counsel on senior leadership needs. We have unrivalled access to leading executives around the world.
Our clients range across industries, from the world's largest companies to medium-sized businesses and entrepreneurial start-ups.
We operate out of 51 offices in 27 countries. Last year we conducted more than 4,000 assignments around the world.
Our team of more than 300 consultants possesses a unique blend of professional search experience and industry expertise. Consultants are organized in practices and work in teams, often across international boundaries that maximize sector specialization and knowledge-sharing. These client service teams are supported by first-rate associates and researchers, and backed by state-of-the-art technology.
We place quality at the center of everything we do and solicit candid feedback at every opportunity in order to continually improve our service to clients.
We channel our knowledge and expertise into a wide range of publications for the benefit of existing and prospective clients.

Glynn Capital is focused on investments in leading private and public technology growth companies. We seek to be long-term investors in a limited number of excellent companies with world-class management teams, sustainable business models, and long-term growth potential.

Lightspeed Venture Partners is an early stage venture capital firm focused on accelerating disruptive innovations and trends in the Enterprise and Consumer sectors. For over two decades, the Lightspeed partners have backed and helped build more than 250 companies globally, many of which have become market leaders. Lightspeed’s strategy is to be the first or lead institutional investor in companies with high growth potential in markets capable of supporting the creation of large, valuable enterprises. The Firm currently manages over $4 billion of committed capital and has invested in companies like AppDynamics, DataStax, Fusion-io, MuleSoft, Nest, Nicira.

Sequoia is a venture firm with a 40+ year track record of partnering with daring entrepreneurs. Founded in 1972, we’ve been early business partners with many of technology’s biggest companies (Apple, Google, Oracle, Cisco, and more) along with many emerging leaders (WhatsApp, Palo Alto Networks, ServiceNow, FireEye, LinkedIn, Dropbox, Airbnb, etc).

Association Partners

SIM New Jersey is one of over 30 chapters and 4000+ members that play a vital role in the success of SIM by extending its vision and mission into IT communities across the United States. Our chapter is an excellent way to take advantage of the wealth of IT resources available in New Jersey, as well as the tri-state region. Through workshops, presentations, conferences, meetings and social outings, SIM New Jersey helps you stay informed on key industry issues while enabling members to establish valuable local, regional and even national contacts.

The CIO Executive Leadership Summit is created for CIOs/IT leaders. It also has strong appeal to leaders interested in better positioning their organizations and themselves for what's ahead in business and to achieve the greatest benefits through the use of information technology.

To ensure a high quality environment and to maximize the networking experience, all attendees must be:

Employed C-Level executives (non-vendor) or equivalent, CIOs, Direct Reports of CIOs, or Senior Most IT Professional in an organization with $200M or greater revenue, or from not-for-profit or government organizations with comparable size

- OR -

Full time academicians

If you meet the criteria above, there is no fee to attend.

All registration requests will be reviewed and approved based upon above stated criteria.

* Sales/marketing individuals or consultants from non-sponsoring vendor organizations are not permitted.

Special Needs - We fully support the Americans with Disabilities Act. If you require special assistance of any kind, please call us at (203) 221-2702 or email us at registrar@hmgstrategy.com.